Green wall project to take off from Gurugram

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, March 16

Waking up to the alarming rate of the desertification of its land owing to degradation of the Aravallis, the state will build a great green wall.

The state has reported desertification of around 3.6 lakh hectares or 8.2 per cent of the state’s total area. As part of a central project, this 1,400-km long wall will be erected from Gujarat to Panipat and will be initiated from Gurugram’s Tikli village on March 25. Inspired by African Great Green Wall, the state will launch rampant plantation in 75 villages with the majority falling in NCR.

The project will inaugurated by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. As many as 25 villages will be taken up in the first phase. The state will launch plantation in five villages each from Nuh, Gurugram, Rewari, Narnaul and Faridabad. The districts are most affected by degradation and illegal mining.

The Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas-2021, released by the Indian Space Research Organisation, highlighted that degradation has been steady over the past 20 years. The 2018-19 figures show that desertification of Haryana’s geographical area increased by 0.57 per cent from 2011-13. It rose by 0.55 per cent from 2003-05 to 2011-13, 3.42 per cent in 2018-19, 3.43 per cent in 2011-13 and 3.35 per cent in 2003-05.

Experts believe desertification in Haryana is linked to the mining in the Aravallis.